Northern Ireland

In pictures: The Aurora Borealis over Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's very own Night Sky Hunter has done it again. Martin McKenna, from Maghera, captured some amazing images of the Northern Lights on Monday night from the Giant's Causeway and Ballintoy Harbour.

Martin and his girlfriend went aurora hunting as a mass of particles and magnetic fields ejected from the Sun hit the Earth's atmosphere causing a geo-magnetic storm.

"We were absolutely stunned by what we saw: the aurora was vivid green with subtle purple/red colours with massive vertical pillars of light which were so bright they looked like green searchlight beams - we could actually see them reflecting on the ocean," Martin explained.

Martin said the display was the best aurora he had seen seen since 2005. If you want to see the aurora for yourself, another strong display is expected on Tuesday night. Check SpaceWeather.com or AuroraWatch for details.

BBC links

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